Paw print keepsakes in Highland Park: timing, methods and costs
About 270 households in Highland Park lose a dog or cat each year, by our estimate. A clear paw print, taken at home or by your vet, is often the keepsake people are most glad to have.
- Take the print before cremation
- Clay, ink or cast, explained simply
- Published prices, no guesswork
Highland Park, Texas
Getting a paw print in Highland Park: the local picture
Families in the Park Cities often have relatives and grown children spread across the country, and sharing out the ashes lets each household hold some. A main urn at home, plus a few keepsake vessels or pieces of cremation jewelry, works well for many. Ask the provider early, so the ashes are split before they come home and nobody has to do it at the kitchen table.
Dallas summers, hail and the occasional winter ice storm are hard on garden ornaments. High-fired ceramic and cast bronze keep their looks; soft stone and painted concrete do not. For a memorial tree, a native Mexican plum or redbud suits a shaded Park Cities yard and flowers each spring, provided it is watered deeply through its first summers. A small plaque at its base can carry the pet's name.
If your pet will travel to a crematory near Dallas, the journey can take a day or two, depending on collection schedules. Many crematories offer a print at intake, which is a useful backup. But if you can, take your own before your pet leaves Highland Park. That way you have it in your hands and don't depend on anyone else remembering.
Highland Park is home to about 8,764 people, the 212th-largest of the 325 Texas communities we cover. Dallas, roughly 4 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Highland Park run from there.
Our pages for University Park (2 miles, a larger centre), Dallas (4 miles, a larger centre) and Farmers Branch (8 miles, a larger centre) describe the same choices from those towns' point of view, and the providers overlap, so a quote from one often covers Highland Park as well.
Our estimate
3,250
Estimated dog- or cat-owning households in Highland Park
How we calculated this
8,764 ÷ 2.5 = 3,506 households; × 53% (dog) + 39% (cat) = 3,250. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
270
Estimated dog and cat losses in Highland Park each year
How we calculated this
3,250 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 270 a year. The real figure is unlikely to be lower.
53%[1]
53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
39%[3]
39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
If a number here surprises you, the primary material is American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science; we only apply it to this.
How Texas thinks about cremation, and why prints matter
About 55.7%[5] of people in Texas are cremated, so cremation and burial are both common. Pet owners are split the same way: some bury at home or in a pet cemetery, others choose cremation. Either way, a print should be taken first. With a burial you usually have more time and can do it yourself; with cremation, ask the vet or crematory when you book.
We take the Texas rate from NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). It is a human statistic; there is no equivalent pet figure for Highland Park, and we would rather show a real number than invent one.
Weather in Highland Park and your pet's print
Around August, when highs in Highland Park run near 97°F, a senior pet may be flat and uncomfortable in the afternoons. That's often a good time for a print, oddly enough: a hot, sleepy dog or cat lies still. Choose a cool room, keep sessions short, offer water and stop if your pet gets restless. You can always try again the next evening.
If your pet dies at home during June, July, August and September, keeping them cool comes first and the print second. Move them to the coolest room, lay them on a towel over a hard floor and take the print within the first few hours, before the body stiffens. If collection is coming soon, ask the team to wait while you finish, or ask the crematory to take the print at intake.
Paw print prices: kits, add-ons and finishing
A paw print is one of the least expensive keepsakes there is. Many US crematories sell it as a small add-on: one Arizona provider lists a clay paw impression at $10, a nose print at $10 and a laser-engraved paw print at $15[6], and across the US price lists we've checked, paw-print add-ons have a median of about $32[7]. Prices in Highland Park vary by provider, so ask whether a print is already included before you pay extra.
The Texas price table breaks costs down by product; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
What the law in Texas does and doesn't cover
If you might move away from Texas one day, it helps to know that a print, a cast or a photograph needs no paperwork at a border, while ashes sometimes do, and a grave can't come with you at all. None of that should decide your plans, but it's worth weighing alongside what Texas allows, set out below.
Not sure which office covers Highland Park? The Texas local government directory is the official list.
The rules that apply across Texas (home burial, scattering and who oversees pet cremation) are summarized on our Texas page. Highland Park may add its own conditions, so check with the city or county before digging.
Getting a paw print in Highland Park, step by step
- Tell your child what's happening in plain words, then offer them a part in making the print if they want one. Our guide to print-making with children has age-by-age ideas for what they can do.
- Give them a real job: rolling the clay, choosing the card color or writing the name.
- Let them press a hand or fingerprint next to the paw, if they'd like to.
- If the print is taken after death, leave the pressing to an adult or the vet, then let your child see the result.
- Make a copy for your child's room, and tuck the original away out of harm's way.
- Come back to it later. One child wants it framed the same week; another won't look at it for months.
Turning a print into something lasting
Highland Park homes tend to have established gardens, and many families like a quiet memorial in a planted corner: a carved stone among the ferns, a small bronze plaque or a bench beneath a live oak. Others prefer something inside, such as a well-made urn on a library shelf or a framed print. Choose the setting that suits your household and the way you live.
the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, or look at how readers voted in our polls, For a plain comparison of the choices, open services, the guides answer the longer questions and the blog the newer ones. Close to Highland Park we also cover Austin, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth; the full list for Texas and for the United States is a click away.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
Where would your pet's print live?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Whose print are you thinking about?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Paw print keepsake chooser
Match a print method to your pet's size, fur and the keepsake you want to keep.
Jewelry ash capacity guide
How much ash fits in pendants, rings and glass, and how many pieces one pet can fill.
Questions people ask
Is cremation common in Texas?
For people, yes: about 55.7%[5] of Texas deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Highland Park follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Where are the providers that serve Highland Park actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Dallas, about 4 miles away. That is normal for a town this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Highland Park and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Which nearby towns can I compare with Highland Park?
The closest communities we cover are University Park (about 2 miles), Dallas (about 4 miles) and Farmers Branch (about 8 miles). Providers based in those places often serve Highland Park too. Ask each one for a written total that includes collection, so the distance is priced in.
Roughly how many pets die in Highland Park each year?
Our estimate is around 270. It comes from Highland Park's population (about 8,764), the average household size, the share of homes with a dog or cat (about 3,250 households here) and the average lifespan. It is arithmetic, not a count, so read it as a rough floor.
Can I get my dog's nose print?
Yes. Dab a small amount of pet-safe ink onto the nose with a soft sponge, or use an inkless wipe, then press a folded card gently against the nose from the front. It usually takes a few tries. The ridges on a dog's nose make a striking engraving on a pendant or an urn, and many providers take a nose print alongside the paw.
Can I get a print of my bird's feet?
Yes, with care. Birds are light and their toes are delicate, so use very soft clay and the gentlest pressure, or an inkless kit with treated paper. Ink is best avoided because birds preen and may swallow it. An avian vet can help if your bird is nervous. The result is a lovely, delicate impression of the toes and scales.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 53% of US households own a dog, which is about 71 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 39% of US households own a cat, which is about 53 million households. American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2025 State of the Industry, 2025.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] The NFDA projected Texas's cremation rate at 55.7% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [6] Memorial add-ons at A Greener Place: $15 laser-engraved paw print, $10 clay paw impression, $10 nose print, $5 fur clipping. A Greener Place Pet Aquamation – Pricing, 2026.
- [7] Paw-print add-ons at US crematories have a median price of about $32, from $10 to $76. Our estimate: median of [$10 clay (AGP), $15 laser engraving (AGP), $49 ink (Final Gift), $76 clay (Final Gift)]. How we calculate.
- [8] The typical sterling silver pet cremation pendant costs about $190, based on the middle of three sellers' price points. Our estimate: median of [Urns.com median $129, Memorials.com midpoint of $87.95–$297.95 = $193, Final Gift sterling paw pendant $240]. How we calculate.
Ask who takes paw prints in Highland Park
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.